When they happen to say the same word at the very same time, many children play a version of the jinx game that ends with the declaration, “You owe me a Coke!” Martha shares an old version from the Ozarks that ends with a different line: “What goes up the chimney? Smoke!” This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Double Jinx”
You know, Grant, there have been times on this show when you and I have both said the same word at the same time.
And you say…
Jinx, you owe me a coat.
Exactly.
But I found another version of this from many years ago in Ozark country.
I found this in a journal of folklore.
When two children happen to say the same word simultaneously, they stop in their tracks and they hook the little fingers of their hands together, their left hands.
And they very solemnly recite the following, speaking alternate lines.
Needles, pins, triplets, twins.
When a man marries, his trouble begins.
When a man dies, his troubles end.
What goes up the chimney?
Smoke.
And then they loosen their hands and go on with play as if nothing ever happened.
Oh, interesting.
Yeah, the pinky hook is a really common feature of children’s folklore.
Indeed, yeah.
But the rhyme I haven’t heard before.
Yeah, I know.
And then that little ending with what goes up the chimney, smoke.
By the way, you owe me a million Cokes.
You owe me so many Cokes.
You have a lot of caffeinated evenings in your future, it sounds like.
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